Monlaur), a naïve student- ing encounters, concluding in spectacular teacher traveling to her fashion with a showdown with the baron first assignment, becomes and his “brides” in an old windmill. stranded in a remote Tran- The scenario isn’t perfect. Questions sylvanian village. The (ap- remain unanswered (for instance, if Baron parently) kindly Baroness Meinster can change into a bat, why does Meinster (Martita Hunt) a simple leg restraint trouble him?), and offers to let her stay at her other plot threads are left unresolved chateau. There, Marianne (including the final disposition of the two discovers the handsome vampire “brides” of the film’s title), lapses young Baron Meinster likely introduced during rewrites. The (David Peel) chained to the movie could also do without the untimely wall of his room. He con- introduction of an intrusive comedy relief vinces Marianne that he is character, the greedy hypochondriac Dr. being held prisoner by his Tobler (Miles Malleson), whose unwel- evil mother, the baroness. come presence is especially distracting Marianne impulsively sets since he arrives at the beginning of the him free, then (after the final act, just asThe Brides of Dracula begins baron reveals himself as a racing toward its breathless finale. The Brides of Dracula co-stars David Peel (Baron Meinster) and Yvonne Monlaur (Marianne) ham it up for this publicity still. vampire) realizes she has Ultimately, however, these flaws seem made a terrible mistake. inconsequential. Director Terence Fisher’s She flees the castle and, urgent storytelling and bold composi- Courtesy of Photofest luckily, falls in with Van tions (with figures placed in the frame so taken the unexpected tack of continuing Helsing (Peter Cushing), who had been that they pack the same sort of dramatic the story of the titular scientist rather called by the local vicar to investigate a punch as a Jack Kirby comic book layout) than (like Universal Pictures’ long-run- growing vampire plague stemming from sweep the viewer along and sustain ten- ning Frankenstein series) chronicling the Chateau Meinster, where the baroness had sion throughout. Bernard Robinson’s sets further exploits of the misshapen monster. been feeding young girls to her son. Van were never more beautifully designed or The Brides of Dracula, the much-anticipated Helsing immediately sets about demolish- decorated than here. (The effort that went sequel to Horror of Dracula (1958: U.K. title, ing the Meinster monsters, beginning with into some of these sets is simply amaz- Dracula), took a similar approach, starring the baroness and, after a series of hair-rais- ing, especially the main hall of Chateau the vampire-slaying Prof. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) and—ad- vertising taglines aside—not fea- turing Dracula at all. In the case of Brides, however, this innovation Courtesy of Photofest was a product of necessity rather By Mark Clark and Bryan Senn tries devoted to these films are provided will also include a brief appendix entry than artistic choice. on the following pages. Our honorable devoted to this film (and others that, for Christopher Lee, catapulted When Monsters from the Vault mention choices were Scream of Fear a variety of reasons, fall just outside the to stardom by his sensational learned that we were coauthoring a [U.K. title, Taste of Fear] for Mark and scope of our coverage). performance in Horror of Dracula’s, comprehensive guide to horror films of One Million Years B.C. for Bryan. Other declined to appear in The Brides the 1960s (forthcoming from McFarland films that narrowly missed one or both of THE BRIDES OF DRACULA (1960; Ham- of Dracula. Lee claims he turned & Company, and tentatively titled Six- our Top Threes include Frankenstein Cre- mer–Universal-International) Director: down Brides because he feared ties Shockers: Horror Films of the 1960s), ated Woman, Dracula Has Risen from the Terence Fisher. Producer: Anthony Hinds. becoming typecast, but producer editor Jim Clatterbaugh asked us to Grave, Kiss of the Vampire, The Curse of Screenplay: Jimmy Sangster, Peter Bryan, Anthony Hinds remembered name our choices for the best chillers the Werewolf, Five Million Years to Earth and Edward Percy. Cinematographer: Jack that Lee “was asking too much of the decade to emerge from England’s (U.K. title, Quatermass and the Pit), and Asher. Cast: Peter Cushing, Yvonne Mon- money. … We decided we could fabled Hammer Films. We were happy to The Nanny. laur, Freda Jackson, David Peel, Andree do without him.” In any case, comply, but pulling together a single list Both of us would have chosen Melly, and Miles Malleson. Lee’s departure from the project proved difficult since the two of us hold Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed among necessitated delays and rewrites strong opinions and have not undergone Hammer’s best of the decade, except that THE MOST EVIL, BLOOD-LUST- (three screenwriters receive script a mind meld. it wasn’t released in the United States un- ING DRACULA OF ALL! –tagline credit, an unusually high number For our Top Three, we selected The til 1970—so it’s not a Sixties movie. Our for a Hammer picture). The final The brides of Dracula (actually, brides of Meinster) Brides of Dracula, The Plague of the Zom- book will cover all horror films released The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), product, however, proved well themselves: Andree Melly (left) and Yvonne Monlaur. bies, and The Devil’s Bride (U.K. title, The theatrically in the United States during Hammer’s first sequel to the groundbreak- worth the wait. Devil Rides Out). Our Sixties Shockers en- the 1960s. However, Sixties Shockers ing The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), had Marianne Danielle (Yvonne Courtesy of Photofest 36 MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT #26 SPRING 2009 37.